CHP captain shot dead in Tennessee months after estranged husband’s murder

A California Highway Patrol captain was found dead in Tennessee over the weekend, a day after she was arrested on harassment charges and not long after another man was jailed in connection with the murder of her husband.

Julie Harding, 49, was found dead from a single gunshot wound near the driveway of her home in Celina on Saturday, according to KPIX.

Police said his death did not appear to be the result of foul play, but have not confirmed whether he had committed suicide.

Harding’s husband, Michael, disappeared in September 2022, but was found dead a week later from multiple gunshot wounds in a vacant home in Cumberland County, Kentucky.

Harding’s husband, Michael (pictured), disappeared in September 2022, but was found dead a week later from multiple gunshot wounds in a vacant home in Cumberland County.

Police arrested Thomas Francis O’Donnell at Sacramento International Airport on a murder charge in connection with Michael’s death just days before Harding’s body was found.

He remains in the Sacramento County Main Jail and has waived an extradition hearing to Kentucky, KCRA 3 reported.

The 60-year-old man has a criminal record involving harassing and threatening to kill a former girlfriend in the Houston area in 2006.

The victim accused him of threatening to kill her after she broke up with him in 2005.

In incidents that lasted nearly a year, he was accused of pushing her, strangling her, forcing her to have sex with him, harassing her where she worked and chasing her with his car, according to court documents.

O’Donnell was charged but placed on probation.

Authorities have not said what they believe her motive might be in connection with the death of Harding’s husband.

Harding was on leave from his job at CHP at the time of his death on December 10. She had been arrested on December 8 for stalking and burglarizing the home of a woman who had been dating Michael.

Just days before Harding’s death, authorities assisted in the arrest of 60-year-old Thomas Francis O’Donnell (pictured) in connection with Michael’s murder.

KPIX reported that a close source claimed Michael’s death had been part of a “murder-for-hire plot” involving Harding, but authorities have not established a connection between Harding and O’Donnell.

Harding was on leave from his job at CHP at the time of his death on December 10.

She had been arrested on December 8 for stalking and burglarizing the home of a woman who had been dating Michael.

The Hardings were getting a divorce, according to documents from the Murfreesboro Police Department in Tennessee.

Michael’s girlfriend filed a complaint after seeing Harding (pictured) on his Ring camera on October 10 walking to the front door and calling a dog’s name, ‘Charlie.’

Harding can be seen grabbing the dog by its collar and leaving Michael’s girlfriend’s house.

The woman who filed the complaint reported seeing Harding on her ring camera on October 10 walking to the front door and calling the dog’s name, ‘Charlie.’

Charlie was Michael’s dog and the woman had agreed to take custody of the beloved pet after his death, according to the documents.

The woman told officers that she was willing to give the dog to Harding if they met at a nearby police department.

In ring camera footage, Harding can be seen grabbing the dog by the collar and walking out of Michael’s girlfriend’s house, which is when the woman filed a warrant for Julie’s arrest for trespassing.

Sergeant Jeremy Weyland of the CHP’s Valley Division told CBS that Julie Harding had been on the force since 1999 and was a commander since 2018.